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1 – 10 of over 7000Roberta Apa, Roberto Grandinetti and Silvia Rita Sedita
The purpose of this paper is to provide insights on the relational dimension of a networked business incubator (NBI), by investigating the intermediary role of incubator…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide insights on the relational dimension of a networked business incubator (NBI), by investigating the intermediary role of incubator management in fostering social and business ties linking tenants among each other, with the incubator management and external actors.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper offers a literature review on the NBIs and advances a comprehensive analytical framework of the networked incubation model. This framework is empirically illustrated through a case study research on a leading Italian private NBI, namely, H-Farm. The collection of primary data was conducted by means of face-to-face in-depth interviews and a survey. Data were processed through social network analysis (SNA) tools.
Findings
The results highlight the co-presence and interaction of social and business ties, which build up a vital environment nurturing an entrepreneurial ecosystem. Community-based relationships and the intermediation of incubator management are crucial for supporting tenants in product and business development activities.
Research limitations/implications
These results pave the way to further research, oriented to the conceptualization of a NBI as a (small) cluster. Moreover, the application of the SNA tools adopted invites further research on networked incubators, applying the same methodology in new directions.
Originality/value
This paper adds to previous literature on NBIs by providing evidence of the intermediary role of incubator management in promoting and facilitating social and business relationships occurring among tenants, between tenants and the incubator management, as well as with external advisors, clients and suppliers.
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Cathy Bailey, Glenda Cook, Linda Herman, Christine McMillan, Jo Rose, Roy Marston, Eleanor Binks and Emma Barron
The purpose of this paper is to report on a small telehealth pilot in local authority sheltered housing in NE England. This explored the training and capacity building needed to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report on a small telehealth pilot in local authority sheltered housing in NE England. This explored the training and capacity building needed to develop a workforce/older person, telehealth partnership and service that is integrated within existing health, social care and housing services.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative case study approach on the implementation and deployment of a pilot telehealth service, supporting sheltered housing tenants with Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (n=4).
Findings
Telehealth training and capacity building, needs to develop from within the workforce/older person partnership, if a usable and acceptable telehealth service is to be developed and integrated within existing health, care and housing services. To be adaptable to changing circumstances and individual need, flexible monitoring is also required.
Practical implications
Service users and workforces, need to work together to provide flexible telehealth monitoring, that in the longer term, may improve service user, quality of life.
Originality/value
The pilot explored a workforce/older person partnership to consider how to add and implement telehealth services, into existing health and housing services.
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The paper aims to explore the potential impact that the introduction of the UK's carbon reduction commitment (CRC) energy efficiency scheme will have on: energy use in the tenanted…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to explore the potential impact that the introduction of the UK's carbon reduction commitment (CRC) energy efficiency scheme will have on: energy use in the tenanted commercial built environment; and the idea of the net lease.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reviews various background documents preceding the implementation of CRC in order to identify the abatement incentives established. The common structure of commercial leases and the early property market reaction to CRC are also considered in order to explore how effective the CRC scheme is likely to be in achieving the twin goals of carbon saving and landlord‐tenant collaboration.
Findings
Key to the success of the CRC scheme will be the way in which the financial and reputational drivers established by the CRC scheme incentivise landlords and tenants to make technological and social changes to reduce energy consumption. Given the variety of ways that energy is supplied to tenanted commercial property, the complexity of the CRC scheme, the traditionally adversarial relations between landlords and tenants and the “split‐incentive” of commercial leases, energy abatement opportunities are found to be significantly more limited in the leasehold context than for owner‐occupied properties. Nonetheless, the paper notes that the introduction of the CRC scheme has begun an important conversation and is an important step towards tackling energy efficiency.
Originality/value
The paper brings together understandings of the legal framework of commercial leases, of the property market and practice, and the landlord and tenant relationship – to consider how the CRC scheme will help to deliver the UK's goal of reducing carbon emissions.
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Based on a case study of the ‘regeneration’ of the ‘Five Estates’ of Peckham, a neighbourhood located in south-east London, this chapter considers the social implications of urban…
Abstract
Purpose
Based on a case study of the ‘regeneration’ of the ‘Five Estates’ of Peckham, a neighbourhood located in south-east London, this chapter considers the social implications of urban ‘regeneration’ processes from an anthropological perspective centred on concepts of waste and value and highlights the emotional turmoil and personal disruption that individuals affected by regeneration plans routinely experience.
Methodology/approach
An ethnographic approach is used based on participant observation, unstructured and semi-structured interviews as well as limited archival research. Life histories are central to the methodology and these result in the substantial use of long quotes from respondents, to highlight the ways in which they framed the issues as well as their opinions.
Findings
The chapter shows how urban regeneration processes that involve displacements and demolitions deeply affect the lives of estate residents. In juxtaposing the voices and experiences of local politicians, officers and residents it sheds light on the ways in which the values and interests of some individuals — those invested with more power, ultimately — ended up shaping regenerated landscapes. At the same time, the homes and communities valued by the residents who lived in them were demolished, removed and destroyed. They were wasted, literally and symbolically, erased from the landscape, their claims to it denied and ultimately forgotten.
Social implications
The chapter highlights how while the rhetoric of regeneration strives to portray these developments as improvement and renewal, the ethnographic evidence shows instead the other side of urban regeneration as wasting both communities and urban landscapes resulting in ‘state-led gentrification’.
Originality/value
Thinking about regeneration and recycling through waste and value allows us to consider these processes in a novel way: at a micro level we can look at the ways in which individuals attribute to and recognise value in different sets of objects and social relationships. At the macro level we can then observe how the power dynamics that shaped the situation resulted in only a specific view and set of values to be enacted and respected, while all others were silenced, wasted and literally expelled from Peckham.
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Anthea Tinker, Fay Wright, Julienne Hanson, Ruth Mayagoitia, Hede Wojgani and Alan Holmans
Extra care housing is seen as a popular option for older people by families, some older people, policy‐makers and practitioners. Some new build is being provided but another…
Abstract
Extra care housing is seen as a popular option for older people by families, some older people, policy‐makers and practitioners. Some new build is being provided but another option, for which grants are available, is to remodel existing outmoded buildings. This research reports on recent attempts from 10 case‐study areas in England to remodel sheltered housing and residential care homes to extra care housing. The results are mixed, with satisfaction reported by many new tenants, anger by some existing ones, challenges at every stage of the project for design and construction teams, and issues over the provision of assistive technology and care. Nearly all the schemes experienced unexpected problems during the course of construction. Remodelling is not necessarily faster or cheaper than commissioning a purpose‐designed new building. Nevertheless, remodelling may be the only viable option for some unpopular or outdated schemes. The research showed that remodelling is not a quick fix, but that it did have considerable advantages for many of the older people and support staff who were living and working in the remodelled buildings. The research concluded that remodelling should only be undertaken when other options have been carefully examined. Drawing on the research findings, advice to policy‐makers and practitioners who are considering this course of action is outlined in the discussion.
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Sheltered housing schemes for older people took a new turn in the UK with the community care policy of the early 1990s giving care provision for people living in such schemes…
Abstract
Sheltered housing schemes for older people took a new turn in the UK with the community care policy of the early 1990s giving care provision for people living in such schemes. There is relatively little research on what sheltered housing schemes provide and what makes them work well. Data was gathered in relation to sheltered housing provision for older people in the north Antrim area of Northern Ireland through 10 focus groups with tenants and 16 questionnaires administered with managers of schemes. Tenants valued the independence and choice of sheltered housing in comparison with institutional care. They also highly valued the social interaction with other tenants, fostered by activities such as coffee mornings, regular lunches and social events. Tenants often helped each other with transport and when sick. Tenants of schemes in small towns were generally satisfied, because of access to shops, churches and other services. Transport was an issue for many, particularly in more rural areas and in relation to attending hospital appointments. Scheme managers were often available to tenants for long and anti‐social hours. The home care arrangements were generally regarded as satisfactory although there were criticisms of the limited hours for tasks and the skills of some care workers. Some scheme managers thought that the publicly‐funded homecare service would be more efficient if the staff were managed from the housing scheme. Appropriate social activities and effective care arrangements are an important aspect of supported housing, as well as the independence it offers. Consideration needs to be given to access to services in locating new schemes.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore the emic theme of “unqualified social work” as part of the process of property management in a self-described “letting agency with a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the emic theme of “unqualified social work” as part of the process of property management in a self-described “letting agency with a difference” in Edinburgh, set in the context of the rapid expansion of the private rented sector.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based upon ethnographic data from participant observation in a letting agency and unstructured interviews with their employees.
Findings
The paper suggests that the shift in Scotland in terms of the provision of housing and housing-related services from the public sector to the private rented sector in recent decades has engendered new social and economic relations in which property managers become “unqualified social workers”.
Practical implications
The paper aims to exemplify how anthropology and ethnographic research may contribute to the understanding of the private rented sector and of property management.
Originality/value
The paper aims to contribute to the wider literature on the private rented sector by foregrounding the role of the property manager. The paper also brings an analysis derived from the anthropology of ethics to an ethnographic understanding of property management and the private rented sector.
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Over the course of 2004, People for Action (PfA) ran a programme looking at ways of increasing the involvement of young tenants in housing association decision‐making. This report…
Abstract
Over the course of 2004, People for Action (PfA) ran a programme looking at ways of increasing the involvement of young tenants in housing association decision‐making. This report on the project summarises the lessons that have been learnt from the work.
The importance of real estate’s sustainability rating has increased significantly. Studies undertaken in 2007 and 2016 show that, at acquisition, the rating rose from 7th to 3rd…
Abstract
Purpose
The importance of real estate’s sustainability rating has increased significantly. Studies undertaken in 2007 and 2016 show that, at acquisition, the rating rose from 7th to 3rd most important attribute. This shift in priorities parallels the RICS embracing the 10 principles of the UN Global Compact (RICS, 2015). However, while sustainability value premia appear common in some international markets, the picture is mixed and drivers and mechanisms lack empirical investigation. The literature reveals potential barriers to investors fulfilling both sustainability and financial objectives. The purpose of this study is explore these potential barriers.
Design/methodology/approach
Focus groups with real estate fund managers, sustainability managers and acquisitions surveyors are undertaken to explore the adoption and implementation of environmental sustainability policies. This reveals a series of barriers to implementation and these are then explored in greater depth through a series of interviews with fund managers. This layered, qualitative approach is designed to provide detailed knowledge of practical and conceptual sustainability issues within the UK real estate market.
Findings
Key drivers underpinning the adoption of sustainability policies are revealed and barriers to implementation are found to relate to data on investment performance, valuation methodologies and prohibitive capex. Further, the heterogeneous, opaque and slow-moving nature of the market is prohibitive and intervention is encouraged to overcome the lack of financial viability that hinders improvements.
Originality/value
Research is dominated by highly aggregated quantitative data on sustainability within commercial real estate markets. The qualitative approach used here adds new insights and value to the understanding of the embeddedness of sustainability in real estate investment decision-making.
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The purpose of this paper is to identify and encourage good practice in adult safeguarding by housing providers, despite their unclear and largely unregulated role in this area.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify and encourage good practice in adult safeguarding by housing providers, despite their unclear and largely unregulated role in this area.
Design/methodology/approach
Literature search on policy and research on the role of housing in adult safeguarding. Good practice search, drawn from No Secrets consultation responses and more recently, from other housing providers.
Findings
Despite the current weak incentives for housing providers to engage in adult safeguarding, some have done so effectively, overcoming barriers to joint working.
Research limitations/implications
This is not a comprehensive study of all good practice in this area; much will exist “unsung” and unrecognised.
Practical implications
Increase housing providers' involvement in adult safeguarding.
Originality/value
The paper is of value, as there is a dearth of literature on the role and potential of housing and adult safeguarding.
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